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Doppelganger
Scholars have debated for centuries about the origin of the doppelgangers. Shadowy, mysterious, and enigmatic, these shapeshifters learned long ago how to integrate themselves into human society. For this reason, learned men and women believe that doppelganger were once human. How doppelgangers gained their unique abilities is unknown, even to themselves. Doppelgangers do not have a society of their own. They fill any desire for companionship and the social interaction through their association with other races. Although doppelgangers act independantly, following their own motivations and goals, rumors persist of a "secret cabal" of elder doppelgangers who desire nothing less than control of the world. Little evidence corroborates these rumors, which may have been perpetuated by the doppelgangers themselves to lend even more mystery to their race's reputation. Doppelganger Racial Traits * +2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, +4 Wisdom, +2 Charisma: Doppelgangers have improved their minds and bodies through centuries of mimicking humanoid forms. * Monstrous Humanoid (Shapechanger): Doppelgangers are monstrous humanoids with the shapechanger subtype. They retain this type and sutype regardless of any humanoid form they may assume. * Medium: As medium creatures doppelgangers have no special bonus or penalties due to size. * Doppelganger base land speed is 30 feet * Darkvision: Doppelgangers can see in the dark out to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and doppelgangers can function just fine with no light at all * Racial Hit Dice: a doppelganger begins with four levels of Monstrous Humanoid, which provide 4d8 Hit Dice, a base attack bonus of +4, and base saving throw bonuses of Fortitude +1, Reflex +4, and WIll +4. * Racial Feats: A doppelganger's monstrous humanoid levels give it two feats. * +4 Natural Armor Bonus: Doppelganger skin is resilient and touch. * +4 racial bonus on Bluff and Disguise checks: Doppelgangers have a talent for deception. When using its change shape ability, a doppelganger gets an additional +10 circumstance bonus on Disguise checks. If it can read an opponent's mind, it gets a further +4 circumstance bonus on Bluff and Disguise checks. * Detect Thoughts (Su): a doppelganger uses detect thoughts as the spell (caster level 18th; Will DC 13 negates). It can suppress or resume this ability as a free action. * Change Shape (Su): A doppelganger can assume the shape of any small or Medium humanoid. In humanoid form, the doppelganger loses its natural attacks. A doppelganger can remain in its humanoid form until it chooses to assume a new one. A change in form cannot be dispelled, but a doppleganger reverts to its natural form when killed. A true seeing ''spell or ability reveals its natural form. * Immunities: A doppelganger is immune to ''sleep and charm effects. * Automatic Languages: Common * Bonus Languages: Auran, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Halfling, Giant, Terran. * Favorited Class: Rogue. A multiclass doppelganger's rogue class does not count when determining whether it takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing. * Level adjustment: +4 Personality Discerning a doppelganger's true personality is akin to grasping quicksilver, although certain traights seem to be common among members of the race. In their natural form, doppelgangers are cold, mysterious, and aloof. and almost never give any indication what they are actually feeling or thinking. Doppelgangers are nautrual liars, and even allies wonder at the validity of a doppelganger's acknowledgement of an emotional state. While in disguise, doppelgangers behave according to te personality of the mimicked humanoid. Because they can only imitate a creature's physical form, and not emotional or psychological qualities, doppelgangers watch their quarry from afar, for as long as possible, getting every idiosyncrasy, nuance, and personality trait down pat before assuming the creatures form. Doppelgangers feel the same basic desires as members of any other race, but more than anything, they wish to simply "belong" to a group, even if for just a short while. Doppelgangers use their abilities as a test of their own cunning and superiority, and they believe that they succeed only when they remain completely unnoted by the race they are trying to mimic. Clinically curious, doppelgangers seek to understand a race by becoming part of that race for a while, before moving on to infiltrate another, more challenging group. Physical Description In their natural form, doppelgangers are gaunt, grey-skinned, genderless, humanoids with long, gangly limbs, standing around 5-1/5 feet tall and weighing about 150 pounds. Doppelganger bodies are slender and frail-looking, although this appearance belies their hardy constitution and natural agility. Their heads are large in proportion to the rest of their bodies, and their faces are featureless except for two large octopoidlike eys. Doppelgangers are rarely seen in their true form and spend most of their time mimicking other humanoids. A doppelganger can only duplicate the appearane of a humanoid and does not gain any special abilities of a mimicked race, such as an elf's low-light vision. Its ability to duplicate another form is remarkable, and it can copy a humanoid form to the minutest detail. Doppelgangers have an incredible memory when it comes to retaining forms and a doppelganger can remember any shape it has mimicked, even if it was years in the past. Relations Either despite or because of their shapeshifting nature, doppelgangers do not have strong relations with other races. They view all humanoid races with the same level of neutrality, heavily influenced by contempt. Doppelgangers considered themselves superior to other humanoid races, although they rarely espouse this viewpoint while dealing with the races in question. They see humanoids as mere pawns to be deceived and used in whatever manner seems necessary at the time. On the other hand, most doppelgangers do not have any preconceived notions about a race--they all have their positive and negative qualities, and none are any better or worse in comparison (except for doppelgangers themselves, of course). In turn, other races are extremely suspicious of a creature that can assume their own forms and blend in with impunity. In some places doppelgangers have thoroughly infiltrated positions of authority, using their newfound power in whatever way they see fit. When a doppelganger is discovered, pogroms and witch-hunts inevitably follow, as the panicked populace accuses anyone and everyone of being a shapeshifter. Alignment Because they live according to the borrowed morals and ethics of other races, doppelgangers are usually neutral in alighment, with no strong opinions on on the properties of good, evil, law, or chaos. Doppelgangers regularly "portray" creatures of different alignments, although their psyches are amazingly toughened to resist any permanent shift from acting in such a manner. They retain their own objectivity regardless of the intensity of emotions that they exhibit on the surface. On occasion, doppelgangers stray from the racial norm of neutrality -- and their inclination toward duplicity and deceit means that most of these individuals fall to evil. Doppelganger Lands Doppelgangers have no lands that they declare as their own. However, they consider all the lands of the other races free for the taking. Doppelgangers with a longing for power simply overthrow an authority figure and assume his or her place instead of trying to garner power from the ground up. Religion Doppelgangers lack religious conviction. They understand why a race would worship a higher being, although they do not feel much desire to propitiate a deity. For this reason, doppelganger clerics are exceedingly rare, despite the fact that doppelgangers occasionally masquerade as members of the clergy for one church or another. Of all the deities, Boccob, the Uncaring God of Magic is the most likely to hold a doppelganger's attention, if only because of his neutral attitude. Language Doppelgangers have no language of their own and communicate among themselves by means of their detect thoughts ability. Doppelgangers learn a multitude of languages to leand to credence to their disguises. Their mastery of shapechanging carries over to speech, and they can imitate particular accents with ease. Names To a doppelganger, a name is just another "prop" to be used in its disguise. A doppelganger uses hundreds of names throughout its lifetime, although none of those names can truly be said to "belong" to that individual. Still, each doppelganger does have a single, unique, name which is almost never used. Doppelganger names are derived from an ancient human language that died millennia ago, giving further weight to the theory that they are descended from human origins. Since doppelgangers lack distinct gender, there are no male or female variations in naming. Doppelganger Names: Ansilikus, Melanuxor, Sanjakilar, Tepilmurae, Verenkilar, Xestilophon. Adventurers Naturally stealthy and deceptive, doppelganger adventurers favor the rogue class. Doppelganger bards number a close second. Those who spend a great deal of time mimicking warriors become fighters or rangers. As mentioned above doppelganger clerics are notoriously rare, and even druids more so, mainly because doppelgangers are so focused on social intricacies that they barely think about the natural world. Doppelganger paladins are on in a million, and viewed with considerable suspicion by the rest of their race. Doppelganger Monster Class If you want to play a doppelganger at 1st level, you can use the doppelganger monster class. To use the monster class, generate your character with the racial traits given below (rather than the doppelganger racial traits presented above), and then take levels in the doppelgager class asyou would levels of other classes. As the ultimate infiltrators and spies, doppelgangers may seem like the perfect choice for players who enjoy stealthy and deceptive characters. Extremely well rounded and adapable with excellent natural armor, doppelgangers excel at any class, although their lack of moral or ethical conviction hinders them from becoming clerics or paladins. A doppelganger begins play with relatively few abilities: immunity to ''sleep '' and charm effects, a constitution bonus andtwo good saving throws. As it advances in level, a doppelganger learns how to detect thoughts, receives increases in its ability scores, and ultimately acquires the change shape ability that defines the race. This ability comes to them slowly, however, and young doppelgangers keep a low profile until they reach their full strength. Racial Traits at 1st level * Starting Ability Score Adjustments: +2 Constitution. Even young doppelgangers are exceptionally hardy. * Medium: As Medium creatures, doppelgangers have no special bonuses or penalties due to size. * Speed: Doppelganger base land speed is 30 feet. * Darkvision: Doppelgangers can see in the dark out to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and doppelgangers can function just fine with no lights at all * Immunity to ''sleep ''and charm effects * Automatic Language: Common Class Skills A doppelganger's class skills (and the eye ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Listen (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spot (Wis). Class Features All of the following are class features of the doppelganger monster class. '''Weapon and Armor Proficiency: '''Doppelgangers are proficient with all simple weapons, but have no proficiency with any armor or shield. '''Natural Armor: '''A doppelganger gains a +1 natural armor bonus at 2nd level. This bonus improves by 1 every two levels thereafter, up to +4 at 8th level. '''Detect Thoughts (Su): '''At 2nd level, a doppelganger can detect thoughts, as the spell (caster level 18th; Will DC 10 negates). '''Change Shape (Su): '''At 3rd level, a doppelganger becomes able to assume the shape of any Small or Medium humanoid. A doppelganger can change its shape once per day at 3rd level (but can revert to its normal form at any time, three times per day at 5th level, and an unlimited number of times per day at 8th level. In humanoid form, a doppelganger loses its natural attacks. A doppelganger can remain in its humanoid form until it chooses to assume a new one. A change in form cannot be dispelled, but a doppelganger reverts to its natural form when killed. A ''true seeing ''spell or ability reveals its natural form.Category:Race Category:Races of Destiny Category:Monstrous Humanoid Category:Monstrous Humanoid (Shapechanger) Category:Class Category:Monster Class Category:Monster Manual I